Australian news, and some related international items

The half-life of plutonium is 24,000 years. At this rate of decay, the Maralinga lands would be contaminated for the next half-million years.…..A variety of factors underlay the harm to public health, Aboriginal culture and the natural environment which the British tests entailed. Perhaps most significant was the secrecy surrounding the testing program….There seems little doubt that the secrecy in which the entire testing program was cloaked served British rather than Australian interests…..Information passed to Australian officials was kept to the minimum necessary to facilitate their assistance in the conduct of the testing program. The use of plutonium in the minor trials was not disclosed……

A toxic legacy : British nuclear weapons testing in Australia, Australian Institute of Criminology. “…… Three days after the conclusion of the Totem trials, the Australian government was formally advised of British desires to establish a permanent testing site in Australia. In August 1954, the Australian Cabinet agreed to the establishment of a permanent testing ground at a site that became named Maralinga, Continue reading →

Lack of Australian nuclear plant almost immoral: Peter Cosgrove Amanda O’Brien : The Australian * February 04, 2010 “…………….The former Australian of the Year said he anticipated there would be an outcry but there was no cleaner energy source than nuclear power.(!!)..………General Cosgrove pulled no punches in his speech to the breakfast at the University of Western Australia, which was hosted by major coal producer BHP Billiton.

On nuclear-newswe have already noted several nuclear issues shown by the latest Wikileaks revelations. From the point of view of nuclear discussion, this can only be welcome. The secrecy surrounding all things nuclear is one great source of unethical actions by the uranium, nuclear, and weapons industry.

The debate rages about the ethics of Julian Assange and Wikileaks – with arguments including the possible risks raised for USA undercover agents.

(Mind you, the USA govt was quite happy to “out” one of its own agents, Valerie Plume, when her husband Joe Wilson blew the whistle on USA’s aims in invading Iraq. – see the movie “Fair Game” Fair Game (2010) – IMDb)

Julian Assange is now being pursued with all sorts of allegations and attacks on his character. The ethics of his attackers are more questionable than his. Wikileaks next revelations are to be about the finance industry and big corporations. No wonder that they, and the nuclear industry are in a tizz about Wikileaks.

“We’ve got untapped supplies of wind and solar energy so I think the economics of developing those sorts of energy sources are going to far outweigh the benefits and the costs of developing a nuclear industry.”…….”I don’t think that the end result, which is the whole expense and difficulties of decommissioning and dealing with the waste, have been addressed.”

llawarra MPs oppose nuclear power proposal – ABC Illawarra NSW – Australian Broadcasting Corporation December 2, 2010 Illawarra Labor MPs have voiced their opposition to nuclear power amid talks of a debate on the agenda for next year’s national conference. Continue reading →

“When governments stop torturing and killing people, and when corporations stop abusing the legal system, then perhaps it will be time to ask if free-speech activists are accountable.” – Julian Assange

A dream come true for WikiLeaks founder, DAILY NATION 2 Dec 10, The founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks whose exclusive dossiers have captured the attention of the world is a man who seems to have achieved his dream. Continue reading →

There’s a lot happening out there in the world that Australians have been deceived about by the “the world isn’t acting, Australia shouldn’t lead” line. It’s a blatant lie and one that should be completely shattered by the time the Cancun negotiations are over, so we can get on with setting an effective carbon price as the Government’s number one priority in 2011.

C’mon Aussie c’mon…. seriously, c’mon!!!! Crikey November 30, 2010 – 9:55 pm, by Anna Rose.…………….After the UN talks in Copenhagen a year ago, we saw a concerted effort from Tony Abbott and his climate denier cronies to create an attitude in the community that the rest of the world wasn’t acting on climate change. This couldn’t be further from the truth Continue reading →

“The Labor Party has got a very clear policy here and it’s a really long standing policy of opposition to nuclear power,” she told 3AW……Ms Gillard said that in Australia “nuclear power doesn’t stack up as an economically efficient source of power”….We are very focused on our record investment in solar and renewable technologies. We’ve got abundant energy from those sources.”

Julia Gillard plays down nuclear power push Joe Kelly and Lauren Wilson The Australian * December 01, 2010 JULIA Gillard has played down a push by senior Labor MPs for an inquiry into nuclear power, saying it’s not an economically efficient source of energy. Continue reading →

It is easiest to just adopt the good old “she’ll be right, mate” attitude, and to ignore the push for the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia. After all, some Australian make money out of uranium, and who cares if other countries make bombs out of it?

It’s also easy to please the powers that be, and go along with BHP Billiton etc, and Australian politicians in the drive for the nuclear fuel cycle here.

But, it takes courage to stand up for the environment, health, peace, against the push. Most courageous of all, the Aboriginal people who make this stand – against the propaganda, bribery, and threats of the pro-nuclear push.

Mr Baillieu has said he will abandon Labor’s plan for a staged closure of the Hazelwood coal power station….and introducing tougher planning regulations that would prevent wind turbines being erected in tourist areas…..

Coalition has explaining to do on climate targets, The Age, Adam Morton, November 30, 2010“……….Environment Victoria, the state’s main green lobby group, said there were many gaps in the new government’s environment and climate policy stance as it had not outlined its full plans before the election as promised. Continue reading →

As the world discusses mitigating climate change at the UN climate conference in Cancun, starting today, what is really needed is for the world to face the truth, which may then foster our capacity to act……

Do we have the mindset to save the planet? UN Climate Change Conference In Cancun, The Age Lyn Bender, November 29, 2010 Where were you when you first realised that climate change was happening? Were you caught up in the horror of the worst bushfires in Victoria’s history on Black Saturday 2009?
Or moved by images of distraught parents in the aftermath of record monsoons that had flooded Pakistan? Continue reading →

Faced with overwhelming evidence against nuclear power, vested interests have seized on the climate crisis as a last-gasp attempt to put it back on the agenda. But doing so would squander the resources necessary to implement meaningful climate change solutions.

The question: should nuclear energy power our future?, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 Nov 10 “…… Stephen Campbell Nuclear power has no future in Australia. This is commonsense for the environment and the economy. Let’s start with finance. In November last year economists at Citigroup issued a critique called, “New nuclear – the economics say no”. The report said ”three of the risks faced by developers – construction, power price, and operational – are so large and variable that individually they could each bring even the largest utility companyto its knees”. Continue reading →

Canberra-based Civil Liberties Australia spokesman Tim Vines said the authority was behaving like a ”government agency mad with power”……

Govt promises X-rays won’t be naked scanners, The Canberra Times, JULIEANNE STRACHAN, 28 Nov, 2010 New X-Ray body scanners could be rolled out at Australian airports in just a few months, but the Federal Government has promised they will not be the same as the ”naked scanners” which have caused outrage in the US. Continue reading →

That we don’t need nuclear power is obvious: the ”land of the cloudless skies” has cleaner, abundant energy available. The recent report Beyond Zero Emissions demonstrates baseload clean energy can be supplied by renewable sources within 10 years at an affordable cost – about $8 a household a week.

While a highly qualified science writer, Julie Posetti, gave up on efforts to cover Climate Change properly at THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper, that paper’s view is likely to now do an abrupt u-turn in its coverage of climate change.

As Australia’s top right-wing voice, THE AUSTRALIAN is now urgently touting nuclear power for Australia. With no economic, environmental, (especially water) argument for nuclear power in Australia – THE AUSTRALIAN will now be forced to become a firm believer in climate change, climate change being now the only (supposedly) acceptable argument for nuclear power in Australia.

(It wouldn’t do to argue that nuclear power is in the interests of BHP Billiton and other uranium corporations, or the interests of slavishly following the USA, or the prospect of an Australian international radioactive waste business.) Christina Macpherson

the difficulties of having stories published [in THE AUSTRALIAN] about climate change because of the attitude of and pressure from senior editors at the paper.

The ‘torture’ of writing about climate change at The Oz, Crikey, by Andrew Dodd 26 Nov 10 A former senior News Limited journalist has described trying to write about human-induced climate change at The Australian newspaper as “torture” and has blamed the editor-in-chief for limiting coverage on the topic because he has “taken a political view”. Continue reading →

FEDERALSubmissions about the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility in Kimba or the Flinders Ranges. The Standing Committee on Environment and Energy are accepting submissions to the ‘Inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia’ until 16 September 2019. Please write your own submission or use FOE’s online proforma.

Nuclear facilities, including power stations and radioactive waste dumps, are now banned in Queensland.

Nuclear facilities banned under the Act include:

·nuclear reactors (whether used to generate electricity or not);

·uranium conversion and enrichment plants;

·nuclear fuel fabrication plants;

·spent fuel processing plants; and

·facilities used to store or dispose of material associated with the nuclear fuel cycle e.g. radioactive waste material.

Exemptions under the legislation include facilities for the storage or disposal of waste material resulting from research or medical purposes, and the operation of a nuclear-powered vessel.

1 FEDERALSubmissions about the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility in Kimba or the Flinders Ranges. The Standing Committee on Environment and Energy are accepting submissions to the ‘Inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia’ until 16 September 2019. Please write your own submission or use FOE’s online proforma.

Australia has long rejected nuclear power, and it is banned in Federal and State laws. The nuclear lobby is out to first repeal those laws, and then to get the Australian government to commit to buying probably large numbers of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) . This could mean first importing plutonium and/or enriched uranium, as some reactor models, (thorium ones) require these to get the fission process started. That would, in effect, mean importing nuclear wastes.

There’s an all-too short period for people to send in Submissions to the 4 Parliamentary Inquiries now in progress.